New KBB Report Says Subaru Can't Get Above 10th In Brand Consideration

Is Subaru a car brand customers consider when buying a new car? A new Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch report and data from Cox Automotive say among the mainstream (non-luxury) brands, Subaru stays at number ten overall in the latest report. The new KBB report says Subaru of America is tenth overall among mainstream car brands at eleven percent.

Top 10 car brands in customer consideration

Toyota is number one, followed by Ford, Chevrolet, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, GMC, Jeep, and Subaru round out the top 10 car brands.

photo credit: Schumacher Subaru

The new KBB report also reveals when customers consider buying a new vehicle, they think of Subaru when considering safety. Models like the 2022 Subaru Outback, Forester, Crosstrek, Ascent, and other new Subaru models are regarded as the safest new models by new car shoppers.

The Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch says Subaru took back the top spot in safety from Ram, helped by the 2022 Subaru Outback being the only midsize car to get the highest "Good" rating in the new IIHS side crash test. The 2022 Subaru Outback midsize SUV, Forester compact SUV, Ascent 3-Row SUV, and Legacy sedan earn the highest Top Safety Pick+ awards from the IIHS.

Why did Subaru stay tenth in buyer shopping consideration?

Buyers who have not purchased a Subaru vehicle before won't find any new 2022 Outback, Forester, Crosstrek, WRX, or BRZ models sitting on retailers' lots. The Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek sell as fast as Subaru of America can get them to retailers' showrooms.

With the new car shortages, customer satisfaction remains high. Subaru of America recently announced they rank highest in six areas in the latest 2022 American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey (ACSI) Automobile Study. The Scores from customers reveal while most car brand customer satisfaction drops, Subaru scores highest in service quality, product quality, safety technology, dependability, customer satisfaction, and drive performance.

Like the KBB study, the latest ASCI automobile study also found Subaru is number one in safety technology for the second year. They are also top-rated for dependability two years in a row and number one in product quality two years in a row.

KBB and Cox Automotive data also say Subaru scores high in the Reputation category. Subaru is known for building safe vehicles and for its all-weather, all-terrain performance. Subaru offers its Symmetrical all-wheel-drive as standard equipment on all its models except for the rear-drive BRZ sports coupe.

It's worth noting that Subaru also won the 2022 Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Award for the Most Trusted Car Brand. The Camden, N.J. automaker also won the Best Performance Brand Award.

In a challenging new model environment with few new cars on Subaru of America's lots, the automaker stays in the top ten car brands for customer consideration. Safety and reputation are high on new car shoppers' lists when shopping for a new all-wheel-drive model like the 2022 Subaru Outback, Forester, Ascent, and Crosstrek SUVs.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Photo credit: Subaru USA